Bound By Fire
by ihobbitses
Summary: A sacrifice made for the good of the many. Beware the fire serpent. Reylo AU.


**Reylo AU.**

 **I'm not going to give much of an intro. This story is sort of writing itself. I can't say how long it will be... maybe only a couple chapters, maybe more if it comes to me.**

 **I hope you enjoy, and please let me know what you think!**

* * *

THE GREAT BEAST

It started with a scream.

The sound seemed to reverberate off the trees and bounce back with more force, echoing all around her. It made the hair stand up on the back of Rey's neck and arms, and her back went ramrod straight. The basket she had been loading with vegetables lay discarded on the ground.

After a few moments, the night sky lit up with a bright light that could only come from fire. Soon the heat of it followed, as well as more screams of both pain and fear.

Rey turned to run, the basket of stolen veg forgotten, but was caught in the onslaught of people running by for a moment.

"Run! The serpent comes!" The screams all around her seemed to say all the same things in different ways, and the fear it sent through her made her put on a burst of speed. Finding a path through the riot of villagers, she ran in a different direction.

Running, after all, was what she did best.

Her swift legs carried her into the forrest, farther away from the village. The cottage she lived in was just on the other side of it. She would collect the small amount of possessions she owned which consisted of a few clothes, the bread on the counter and the pack she would carry it in. Not to mention what she had acquired only yesterday.

To her credit, she made it far. But just as she was coming to the small clearing before the path that lead to the cottage, something slammed into her. Her body was thrown off balance and before she could catch herself, her head hit something hard and her vision went bright.

Then there was only darkness.

* * *

She awoke to a blur of many faces around her and a raging pain in her head.

Rey coughed to try and clear the sludge from her lungs, but by the smell she'd say it was the smokey air.

"This is the stranger we've been seeing this past week, my Chief."

Rey looked around in hope as the fog cleared from her eyes, but she knew they were talking about her. If it wasn't obvious from the strong man holding her arms in a vice-like grip. "Let go of me!" She couldn't stop the outburst, but she gritted her teeth after when the man's grip got harsher.

"She showed up just when our food started going missing!" Someone shouted from somewhere behind her.

"And now the serpent!" Yelled another, followed by an uproar of angry voices.

Rey rolled her eyes, stopping when it made her head pound sharply. Because the fire was _her_ fault, obviously.

Even so, she watched the Chief in front of her. He wasn't a cruel man, and he was fair to his people. But she was an outsider, and thievery wouldn't be tolerated.

She had seen the hard look in his eyes before on many others through her years. Hopefully she would merely be banished. It wouldn't be the first time.

As the big Chief opened his mouth to speak her punishment, Rey straightened her back and lifted her chin, ready for his edict. But nothing could have prepared her for what he said next.

"The serpent has left us in peace for over twenty years. We have made regular sacrifices to the Great Beast in the past, and there is no reason I can think of that it would attack now. Unless-" he lead off, his eyes narrowing on her, "perhaps, someone stole from his hoard."

Rey's eyes widened, and her heart picked up. _What?_ He couldn't mean _her_ could he? She was about to speak up in her defense when she remembered the day before.

She had been running, free of her human body, when she had come across a cave. It was covered in a smell that told her to run away, to find safety, but a glint had caught her eye. Against her better judgement she had gone forward, and under closer inspection she found that it was a coin.

Not just any coin though, but one made of gold. The scavenger in her couldn't just leave it lying there, but more than that, the hunger in her stomach couldn't either.

A noise from farther in the cave had her scampering away before she had even decided to do so, but she had collected the coin. It was currently in her pocket, in fact.

Coming back to the present, she started squirming. Unfortunately, her lack of denial had already decided her fate to the Chief, and to his people. A tide of yelling started up all around her and she fought the tears that wanted to come. That couldn't be allowed.

"A sacrifice needs to be made," the Chief announced, standing up speak to the crowd as a whole. "Our people will not suffer for the crimes of an outsider." The crowd cheered in pleasure at his pronouncement, and Rey's breath came quicker; the fear coursing through her veins was palpable. The air seemed thicker and even the pain in her head couldn't distract her from the fate that seemed to await her now.

She would get out of this. She had to.

* * *

Anytime now, she'd get out of this.

The ropes that had been tied around her, pinning her arms to her side and her body to the pyre, made her itch. Rey fought her natural instincts to get free. There were too many people watching her, and she would just be caught again. She was fast, but even she could be stopped by brute force.

And then a shape appeared in the sky, over the mountains. Her breath caught in her throat, and Rey couldn't help but cry out for help, "Please! Please, let me go!" But nobody did. And the shape in the sky only got closer, it's features growing more clear.

It was massive with a wingspan that seemed to go on and on. It got even closer still, and she was able to see that it had four legs as well as wings, and a long neck. Rey could see horns on it's massive head before it flew over her in an arching swoop. Her hair flew around her face from the force of it's wings, and she couldn't help but cry out again. This time though, words escaped her.

Her natural instincts to survive took over and she was squirming to get out of the bonds that kept her to the pyre. But before she could do anything more, she felt the pyre itself being ripped from the ground and her along with it.

Looking up, she saw long sharp claws making slashes in the hard wood, attached strong legs covered in scales. And above that the sky was blocked out by the body of the Great Beast.

Rey screamed until her throat was hoarse.

* * *

The Beast was furious.

He had dropped a coin on his way into his cave. After just acquiring another overflowing cart of jewels and coins, he had been on his way to count and archive them into his hoard. Of course he had noticed right away when it had dropped; his senses were sharper than any other being and that included his hearing.

The sharp ping of gold against gravel had ground on his nerves, calling to him. He had only been gone a few minutes before he returned to retrieve it from the opening of his cave.

But the coin wasn't where he had expected it to be. At first, he merely thought it had rolled away, so he searched the immediate surroundings. When that came up empty, his mood had grown from mere irritation to pure rage.

And that was _before_ he noticed the scent leading from the south to the entrance of his cave. He had been so busy trying to find the gold that he missed the soft scent at first. Any other creature would have missed the subtlety of it, but he wasn't any other creature. He was Kylo Ren. The Great Beast is what the villages closest to his cave called him, and he couldn't argue with their assessment.

All of the villages had been sacrificing their cows and sheep once a month for years, never once forgetting. In return, he left them in peace.

Now they think to steal from him?

The white hot rage burned sharply through him.

He managed to count and archive only half of his new acquisition before he lost his temper completely. The village to the south paid for his wrath in fire.

Kylo flew back to his cave after a few calculated passes at the village, his fire burning a path through mostly grassland and forrest, though he saw a few cottages in the crossfire. Perhaps that would teach them. If they didn't produce some sort of recompense then he would move on to the next village.

* * *

Less than half a day had passed before he heard the gong to herald their sacrifice.

Walking through the mouth of his cave, Kylo stretched like an overly large cat before launching vertically into the sky. He didn't do it often, but he had a lot of aggression and the effort of it helped steady his mood. Barely.

He had seen the pyre in the distance clearly, as well as the woman attached to it. Her dark hair was pulled back into a tail, bits falling out all over the place. Her skin seemed to have a golden hue that he couldn't deny called to him.

That wouldn't save her though.

His wings beat through the air, propelling him towards the village and the woman. His sacrifice. Kylo was merely going to burn her where she stood, but as he flew closer, a scent drifted to him. Soft, but familiar all the same.

Narrowing his eyes, he passed low over her to get a better smell.

A growl rumbled through his chest when he confirmed it was his thief. _Why that little..._

A quick death would be too good for her.

Swooping back towards her, he caught the top of the pyre in his claws and wrenched it from the dirt. The weight was inconsequential. And soon, he would know more about why anyone would be so _stupid_ as to steal from him.

She was about to find out what kind of Beast he really was.


End file.
